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Trlin P, Gong J, Tran KKN, Wong VHY, Lee PY, Hoang A, Zhao D, Beauchamp LC, Lim JKH, Metha A, Barnham KJ, Finkelstein DI, Bui BV, Bedggood P, Nguyen CTO. Retinal hyperspectral imaging in mouse models of Parkinson's disease and healthy aging. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16089. [PMID: 38997314 PMCID: PMC11245556 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66284-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Retinal hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a non-invasive in vivo approach that has shown promise in Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's disease is another neurodegenerative disease where brain pathobiology such as alpha-synuclein and iron overaccumulation have been implicated in the retina. However, it remains unknown whether HSI is altered in in vivo models of Parkinson's disease, whether it differs from healthy aging, and the mechanisms which drive these changes. To address this, we conducted HSI in two mouse models of Parkinson's disease across different ages; an alpha-synuclein overaccumulation model (hA53T transgenic line M83, A53T) and an iron deposition model (Tau knock out, TauKO). In comparison to wild-type littermates the A53T and TauKO mice both demonstrated increased reflectivity at short wavelengths ~ 450 to 600 nm. In contrast, healthy aging in three background strains exhibited the opposite effect, a decreased reflectance in the short wavelength spectrum. We also demonstrate that the Parkinson's hyperspectral signature is similar to that from an Alzheimer's disease model, 5xFAD mice. Multivariate analyses of HSI were significant when plotted against age. Moreover, when alpha-synuclein, iron or retinal nerve fibre layer thickness were added as a cofactor this improved the R2 values of the correlations in certain groups. This study demonstrates an in vivo hyperspectral signature in Parkinson's disease that is consistent in two mouse models and is distinct from healthy aging. There is also a suggestion that factors including retinal deposition of alpha-synuclein and iron may play a role in driving the Parkinson's disease hyperspectral profile and retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in advanced aging. These findings suggest that HSI may be a promising translation tool in Parkinson's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Trlin
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Jenny Gong
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Katie K N Tran
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Vickie H Y Wong
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Pei Ying Lee
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Anh Hoang
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Da Zhao
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Leah C Beauchamp
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jeremiah K H Lim
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Discipline of Optometry, School of Allied Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Andrew Metha
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Kevin J Barnham
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - David I Finkelstein
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Bang V Bui
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Phillip Bedggood
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Christine T O Nguyen
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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2
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Iannucci V, Bruscolini A, Iannella G, Visioli G, Alisi L, Salducci M, Greco A, Lambiase A. Olfactory Dysfunction and Glaucoma. Biomedicines 2024; 12:1002. [PMID: 38790964 PMCID: PMC11117544 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12051002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Olfactory dysfunction is a well-known phenomenon in neurological diseases with anosmia and hyposmia serving as clinical or preclinical indicators of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders. Since glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease of the visual system, it may also entail alterations in olfactory function, warranting investigation into potential sensory interconnections. METHODS A review of the current literature of the last 15 years (from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2023) was conducted by two different authors searching for topics related to olfaction and glaucoma. RESULTS three papers met the selection criteria. According to these findings, patients with POAG appear to have worse olfaction than healthy subjects. Furthermore, certain predisposing conditions to glaucoma, such as pseudoexfoliation syndrome and primary vascular dysregulation, could possibly induce olfactory changes that can be measured with the Sniffin Stick test. CONCLUSIONS the scientific literature on this topic is very limited, and the pathogenesis of olfactory changes in glaucoma is not clear. However, if the results of these studies are confirmed by further research, olfactory testing may be a non-invasive tool to assist clinicians in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Alessandro Lambiase
- Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy; (V.I.); (A.B.); (G.I.); (G.V.); (L.A.); (M.S.); (A.G.)
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How Well Do Rodent Models of Parkinson's Disease Recapitulate Early Non-Motor Phenotypes? A Systematic Review. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10123026. [PMID: 36551782 PMCID: PMC9775565 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10123026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The prodromal phase of Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterised by many non-motor symptoms, and these have recently been posited to be predictive of later diagnosis. Genetic rodent models can develop non-motor phenotypes, providing tools to identify mechanisms underlying the early development of PD. However, it is not yet clear how reproducible non-motor phenotypes are amongst genetic PD rodent models, whether phenotypes are age-dependent, and the translatability of these phenotypes has yet to be explored. A systematic literature search was conducted on studies using genetic PD rodent models to investigate non-motor phenotypes; cognition, anxiety/depressive-like behaviour, gastrointestinal (GI) function, olfaction, circadian rhythm, cardiovascular and urinary function. In total, 51 genetic models of PD across 150 studies were identified. We found outcomes of most phenotypes were inconclusive due to inadequate studies, assessment at different ages, or variation in experimental and environmental factors. GI dysfunction was the most reproducible phenotype across all genetic rodent models. The mouse model harbouring mutant A53T, and the wild-type hα-syn overexpression (OE) model recapitulated the majority of phenotypes, albeit did not reliably produce concurrent motor deficits and nigral cell loss. Furthermore, animal models displayed different phenotypic profiles, reflecting the distinct genetic risk factors and heterogeneity of disease mechanisms. Currently, the inconsistent phenotypes within rodent models pose a challenge in the translatability and usefulness for further biomechanistic investigations. This review highlights opportunities to improve phenotype reproducibility with an emphasis on phenotypic assay choice and robust experimental design.
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Beauchamp LC, Liu XM, Vella LJ, Adlard PA, Bush AI, Finkelstein DI, Barnham KJ. ATH434 Rescues Pre-motor Hyposmia in a Mouse Model of Parkinsonism. Neurotherapeutics 2022; 19:1966-1975. [PMID: 36175781 PMCID: PMC9723006 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-022-01300-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Hyposmia is a prevalent prodromal feature of Parkinson's disease (PD), though the neuropathology that underlies this symptom is poorly understood. Unlike the substantia nigra, the status of metal homeostasis in the olfactory bulbs has not been characterized in PD. Given the increasing interest in metal modulation as a therapeutic avenue in PD, we sought to investigate bulbar metals and the effect of AT434 (formerly PBT434) an orally bioavailable, small molecule modulator of metal homeostasis on hyposmia in a mouse model of parkinsonism (the tau knockout (tau-/-) mouse). 5.5 (pre-hyposmia) and 13.5-month-old (pre-motor) mice were dosed with ATH434 (30 mg/kg/day, oral gavage) for 6 weeks. Animals then underwent behavioral analysis for olfactory and motor phenotypes. The olfactory bulbs and the substantia nigra were then collected and analyzed for metal content, synaptic markers, and dopaminergic cell number. ATH434 was able to prevent the development of hyposmia in young tau-/- mice, which coincided with a reduction in bulbar iron and copper levels, an increase in synaptophysin, and a reduction in soluble α-synuclein. ATH434 was able to prevent the development of motor impairment in aged tau-/- mice, which coincided with a reduction in iron levels and reduced neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra. These data implicate metal dyshomeostasis in parkinsonian olfactory deficits, and champion a potential clinical benefit of ATH434 in both prodromal and clinical stages of PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah C Beauchamp
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - Xiang M Liu
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - Laura J Vella
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, 300 Grattan Street, Parkville, VIC, 3050, Australia
| | - Paul A Adlard
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - Ashley I Bush
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - David I Finkelstein
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - Kevin J Barnham
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia.
- Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia.
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Dikmetas O, Aygün O, Kocabeyoglu S, Süslü AE, Kilic B, Karakaya J, Iester M, Irkec M. Smell Sensitivity in Primary Open-angle Glaucoma and Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma. J Glaucoma 2022; 31:300-304. [PMID: 35180155 DOI: 10.1097/ijg.0000000000001999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PRCIS This cross-sectional study of 20 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), 20 with exfoliative glaucoma (XFG), 20 with exfoliation syndrome (XS) showed that exfoliative group had a significantly lower smell identification level as compared with the control groups. PURPOSE To investigate smell sensitivity in POAG, XFG, and XFS in comparison with healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective, cross-sectional study included 20 patients with POAG, 20 with XFG, and 20 with XFS. The control group consisted of 20 age-matched and sex-matched healthy subjects with no evidence of ocular disease. The Sniffin' Sticks smell test was used to determine the, threshold values, and to assess the ability of smell identification, and differentiation in all patients One eye per patient was included for statistical purposes. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the differences between the groups. Tukey honestly significant difference was used as a post hoc test when significant differences were detected among the 3 groups. RESULTS The XFG, POAG, and control groups showed a significant difference in the odor discrimination, odor identification, and threshold discrimination identification scores. The median (minimum-maximum) smell threshold levels for the POAG, XFG, and XFS groups and healthy controls were 4.5 (0 to 7.5), 4 (0 to 7.5), 5 (4.5 to 6), and 5.5 (4 to 7.5), respectively. The smell differentiation values for the POAG, XFG, and XFS groups and healthy controls were 12 (2 to 14), 8 (0 to 13), 11 (10 to 13), and 12 (9 to 14), respectively. Smell sensitivity for the POAG, XFG, and XFS groups and healthy controls were 26 (4 to 30.5), 19 (0 to 29.5), 28.3 (22.8 to 30.5), and 29 (26.5 to 32), respectively. The smell sensitivity and differentiation were significantly different among the groups (P<0.001). The XFG group had a significantly lower smell identification level than the POAG, XFS, and control groups. CONCLUSION Patients with XFS and XFG revealed reduced smell sensitivity and identification compared with patients with POAG and those without glaucoma. These findings provide new insights into neural degeneration and pseudoexfoliation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ahmet E Süslü
- Department of Otolaryngology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Büsra Kilic
- Department of Otolaryngology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Jale Karakaya
- Biostatistics, Hacettepe University School of Medicine
| | - Michele Iester
- Eye Clinic, Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DiNOGMI), University of Genoa, Genova, Liguria, Italy
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Mees I, Li S, Beauchamp LC, Barnham KJ, Dutschmann M, Hannan AJ, Renoir T. Loss-of-function and gain-of-function studies refute the hypothesis that tau protein is causally involved in the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease. Hum Mol Genet 2022; 31:1997-2009. [PMID: 34999772 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein, whose abnormal phosphorylation and deposition in the brain characterizes a range of neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies. Recent clinical (post-mortem) and pre-clinical evidence suggests that Huntington's disease (HD), an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder, could be considered as a tauopathy. Studies have found the presence of hyperphosphorylated tau, altered tau isoform ratio and aggregated tau in HD brains. However, little is known about the implication of tau in the development of HD pathophysiology, which includes motor, cognitive and affective symptoms. To shine a light on the involvement of tau in HD, our present study aimed at (i) knocking out tau expression and (ii) expressing a transgene encoding mutant human tau in the R6/1 mouse model of HD. We hypothesized that expression of the mutant human tau transgene in HD mice would worsen the HD phenotype, while knocking out endogenous mouse tau in HD mice would improve some behavioural deficits display by HD mice. Our data suggests that neither the expression of a tau transgene nor the ablation of tau expression impacted the progression of the HD motor, cognitive and affective phenotypes. Supporting these behavioural findings, we also found that modulating tau expression had no effect on brain weights in HD mice. We also report that expression of the tau transgene increased the weight of WT and HD male mice, whereas tau ablation increased the weight of HD females only. Together, our results indicate that tau might not be as important in regulating the progression of HD symptomatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaline Mees
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Shanshan Li
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Leah C Beauchamp
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kevin J Barnham
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Mathias Dutschmann
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Anthony J Hannan
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Thibault Renoir
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
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7
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Pan L, Meng L, He M, Zhang Z. Tau in the Pathophysiology of Parkinson's Disease. J Mol Neurosci 2021; 71:2179-2191. [PMID: 33459970 PMCID: PMC8585831 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-020-01776-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD) are the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the formation of Lewy bodies (LBs) in remaining neurons. LBs primarily consist of aggregated α-Synuclein (α-Syn). However, accumulating evidence suggests that Tau, which is associated with tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and argyrophilic grain disease, is also involved in the pathophysiology of PD. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified MAPT, the gene encoding the Tau protein, as a risk gene for PD. Autopsy of PD patients also revealed the colocalization of Tau and α-Syn in LBs. Experimental evidence has shown that Tau interacts with α-Syn and influences the pathology of α-Syn in PD. In this review, we discuss the structure and function of Tau and provide a summary of the current evidence supporting Tau's involvement as either an active or passive element in the pathophysiology of PD, which may provide novel targets for the early diagnosis and treatment of PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lina Pan
- Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
| | - Lanxia Meng
- Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
| | - Mingyang He
- Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
| | - Zhentao Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China.
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Dixit A, Bhattacharya B. Sensory perception of environmental cues as a modulator of aging and neurodegeneration: Insights from Caenorhabditis elegans. J Neurosci Res 2021; 99:2416-2426. [PMID: 34232538 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Environmental stimuli such as temperature, food, and smell significantly influence the physiology and behavior of animals. Animals are differentially adapted to maintain their internal body functions in response to varied environmental conditions. These external cues are sensed by specialized neurons which are a part of the chemosensory and thermosensory systems. The inability to respond correctly to varied environmental conditions may result in compromised bodily functions and reduced longevity. For example, the ability to sense food is derived from the integrated action of olfactory and gustatory systems. The damage to the olfactory system will affect our decision of palatable food items which in turn can affect the response of the gustatory system, ultimately causing abnormal feeding habits. Recent studies have provided evidence that aging is regulated by sensory perception of environment. Aging is one of the most common causes of various neurodegenerative diseases and the perception of environmental cues is also found to regulate the development of neurodegenerative phenotype in several animal models. However, specific molecular signaling pathways involved in the process are not completely understood. The research conducted on one of the best-studied animal models of aging, Caenorhabditis elegans, has demonstrated multiple examples of gene-environment interaction at the neuronal level which affects life span. The findings may be useful to identify the key neuronal regulators of aging and age-related diseases in humans owing to conserved core metabolic and aging pathways from worms to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anubhuti Dixit
- Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences, Amity University, Noida, India
| | - Bidisha Bhattacharya
- Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences, Amity University, Noida, India
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Oberrauch S, Metha JA, Brian ML, Barnes SA, Featherby TJ, Lawrence AJ, Hoyer D, Murawski C, Jacobson LH. Reward motivation and cognitive flexibility in tau null-mutation mice. Neurobiol Aging 2021; 100:106-117. [PMID: 33524848 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The reduction of tau or hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Cognitive decline and sleep-wake dysregulation seen in AD and FTD patients are mimicked in transgenic and null-mutation mouse models of tauopathy. Alterations in the reward system are additional symptoms of AD and FTD. However, the role of tau in reward processes is not well understood. The present study aimed to examine reward and reward-motivated cognitive processes in male and female tau knockout (tau-/-) and wild-type mice using progressive ratio and reversal learning tasks. Tau-/- mice were heavier, ate more in the home cage, and reached criterion in operant lever training faster than wild-type mice. Tau-/- mice had a higher breakpoint in progressive ratio but were unimpaired in reversal learning or reward sensitivity. These data indicate that tau loss of function alters reward processing. This may help to explain aberrant reward-related behaviors in tauopathy patients and highlights a potentially important area for consideration in the development of anti-tau therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Oberrauch
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jeremy A Metha
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Finance, Brain, Mind & Markets Laboratory, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Maddison L Brian
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Samuel A Barnes
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Travis J Featherby
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Andrew J Lawrence
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Daniel Hoyer
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carsten Murawski
- Department of Finance, Brain, Mind & Markets Laboratory, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Laura H Jacobson
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Keenan RJ, Oberrauch S, Bron R, Nowell CJ, Challis LM, Hoyer D, Jacobson LH. Decreased Orexin Receptor 1 mRNA Expression in the Locus Coeruleus in Both Tau Transgenic rTg4510 and Tau Knockout Mice and Accompanying Ascending Arousal System Tau Invasion in rTg4510. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 79:693-708. [PMID: 33361602 DOI: 10.3233/jad-201177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sleep/wake disturbances (e.g., insomnia and sleep fragmentation) are common in neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). These symptoms are somewhat reminiscent of narcolepsy with cataplexy, caused by the loss of orexin-producing neurons. A bidirectional relationship between sleep disturbance and disease pathology suggests a detrimental cycle that accelerates disease progression and cognitive decline. The accumulation of brain tau fibrils is a core pathology of AD and FTD-tau and clinical evidence supports that tau may impair the orexin system in AD/FTD. This hypothesis was investigated using tau mutant mice. OBJECTIVE To characterize orexin receptor mRNA expression in sleep/wake regulatory brain centers and quantify noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) and orexinergic lateral hypothalamus (LH) neurons, in tau transgenic rTg4510 and tau-/- mice. METHODS We used i n situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in rTg4510 and tau-/- mice. RESULTS rTg4510 and tau-/- mice exhibited a similar decrease in orexin receptor 1 (OX1R) mRNA expression in the LC compared with wildtype controls. IHC data indicated this was not due to decreased numbers of LC tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH) or orexin neurons and demonstrated that tau invades TH LC and orexinergic LH neurons in rTg4510 mice. In contrast, orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) mRNA levels were unaffected in either model. CONCLUSION The LC is strongly implicated in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness and expresses high levels of OX1R. These findings raise interesting questions regarding the effects of altered tau on the orexin system, specifically LC OX1Rs, and emphasize a potential mechanism which may help explain sleep/wake disturbances in AD and FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan J Keenan
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sara Oberrauch
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Romke Bron
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Cameron J Nowell
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Leesa M Challis
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Daniel Hoyer
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Laura H Jacobson
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, University of Melbourne, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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Brandt R, Trushina NI, Bakota L. Much More Than a Cytoskeletal Protein: Physiological and Pathological Functions of the Non-microtubule Binding Region of Tau. Front Neurol 2020; 11:590059. [PMID: 33193056 PMCID: PMC7604284 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.590059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau protein (MAPT) is classified as a microtubule-associated protein (MAP) and is believed to regulate the axonal microtubule arrangement. It belongs to the tau/MAP2/MAP4 family of MAPs that have a similar microtubule binding region at their carboxy-terminal half. In tauopathies, such as Alzheimer's disease, tau is distributed more in the somatodendritic compartment, where it aggregates into filamentous structures, the formation of which correlates with cognitive impairments in patients. While microtubules are the dominant interaction partners of tau under physiological conditions, tau has many additional interaction partners that can contribute to its physiological and pathological role. In particular, the amino-terminal non-microtubule binding domain (N-terminal projection region, NTR) of tau interacts with many partners that are involved in membrane organization. The NTR contains intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) that show a strong evolutionary increase in the disorder and may have been the basis for the development of new, tau-specific interactions. In this review we discuss the functional organization of the tau protein and the special features of the tau non-microtubule binding region also in the connection with the results of Tau KO models. We consider possible physiological and pathological functions of tau's non-microtubule interactions, which could indicate that interactions mediated by tau's NTR and regulated by far-reaching functional interactions of the PRR and the extreme C-terminus of tau contribute to the pathological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roland Brandt
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.,Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.,Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
| | | | - Lidia Bakota
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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Cerri S, Blandini F. In vivo modeling of prodromal stage of Parkinson’s disease. J Neurosci Methods 2020; 342:108801. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Feng ST, Wang ZZ, Yuan YH, Sun HM, Chen NH, Zhang Y. Update on the association between alpha-synuclein and tau with mitochondrial dysfunction: Implications for Parkinson's disease. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 53:2946-2959. [PMID: 32031280 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The critical role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathological mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Parkinson's disease (PD), is well established. Compelling evidence indicates that Parkinson's proteins (e.g., α-synuclein, Parkin, PINK1, DJ-1, and LRRK2) are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in PD. Significantly, there is a possible central role of alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) in the occurrence of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress by the mediation of different signaling pathways. Also, tau, traditionally considered as the main component of neurofibrillary tangles, aggregates and amplifies the neurotoxic effects on mitochondria by interacting with α-Syn. Moreover, oxidative stress caused by mitochondrial dysfunction favors assembly of both α-Syn and tau and also plays a key role in the formation of protein aggregates. In this review, we provide an overview of the relationship between these two pathological proteins and mitochondrial dysfunction in PD, and also summarize the underlying mechanisms in the interplay of α-Syn aggregation and phosphorylated tau targeting the mitochondria, to find new strategies to prevent PD processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Si-Tong Feng
- Department of Anatomy, School of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Zhen-Zhen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yu-He Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Hong-Mei Sun
- Department of Anatomy, School of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Nai-Hong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Anatomy, School of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
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